As the first few weeks of school in this first month of a new year come to an end, I realize that the transition from Preschool to Kindergarten was tougher on me than my 5-year old. I often heard myself asking my son, “How was your day today?” as we walked out of his school building, always hearing back the same response: “Good, mom.”

In Preschool, I always felt like I was in the “know” as a parent because I got to go into my son’s classroom every morning at drop-off and wait until he’d put away his belongings and chosen a morning table activity before I headed out - this gave me the opportunity to check in with his teachers, other parents, or even just to observe my son’s interactions with his classmates. But that’s all changed now in Kindergarten as parents simply drop off their kids at the door and must say goodbye there - and I get it. Of course I agree and want my child to gain more independence as he gets older, but I also feel a bit disconnected from what’s going on in there, finding myself wanting to linger a few extra seconds to see him in his classroom.

I’m still learning how to let go each morning and even how to foster healthy communication with my son directly to check in with him about how school is really going for him this year. With that being said, I am sharing in this post some of my most frequently asked after-school questions that I ask my son as we walk home a little more slowly together this school year. I don’t want to overwhelm him by asking all of these, but I am intentional in asking 2-3 of these open-ended questions each day and just listening to my son’s responses.

What was the best part of your day today?

Did anyone make you laugh/smile today?

Who did you sit with for lunch today?

What did you get to do during recess today?

Did the teacher read a book to the class today? What was it about?

What was the hardest part of school today?

Were you kind to someone today?

Was anyone kind to you today?

What did they serve for lunch today?

If you could change one thing about school today, what would it be?

What was the hardest rule you had to follow in school today?

Was there anything that happened in school that made you feel bad today?

What is the most interesting thing you learned about in school today?

Did anyone get in trouble today?

What is the silliest thing that happened in school today?

Did anything new or different from the other days happen in school today?

What do you feel proud of that you did today?